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Yankees lose in 12, fall to one game over .500

Vincent Z. Mercogliano
12:41 a.m. EDT July 1, 2014

Brian Roberts' tying homer in the ninth went for naught as the Rays won 4-3, dropping the Yankees to 41-40

Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances is taken out of the game by manager Joe Girardi (28) in the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. The Rays defeated the Yankees 4-3 in 12 innings.(Photo: Brad Penner/USA Today)

NEW YORK – Monday night's series opener with the Tampa Bay Rays was the 81st game of the year for the Yankees, which officially means that they're halfway done with the 2014 season. And while Brian Roberts nearly sent them into the second half on a high note, the game turned out to be a microcosm of how the season has gone so far for the struggling Yanks.

On the verge of a tough loss, Roberts blasted a solo homer into the right-field seats with one out in the ninth to tie the score. But after three more innings, the Yankees ended up right back where they started. Logan Forsythe hit a two-out RBI single in the top of the 12th to give the Rays a 4-3 win and hand the Yankees their seventh loss in their last nine games.

Jose Ramirez issued a two-out walk to Brandon Guyer, who stole second to set up Forsythe's big hit.

Prior to Roberts' heroics, the Rays had taken a 3-2 lead in the eighth thanks to some shaky work from the Yankees' bullpen.

Closer David Robertson was brought into a tie game with two outs and two on and surrendered the go-ahead hit to Ryan Hanigan. Dellin Betances began the eighth — his third appearance in four days — and recorded two quick outs before issuing two walks, which prompted manager Joe Girardi to call on Robertson.

David Phelps started for the Yankees and served up two solo homers in the first three innings — one to the red-hot Matt Joyce in the first and another to Kevin Kiermaier in the third — but allowed only two other hits over 5-2/3 innings. With injuries ravaging the team's rotation, Phelps has become the next-most reliable starter after Masahiro Tanaka and Hiroki Kuroda.

The Yankees (41-40) tied the score at 2-2 in the third. Ichiro Suzuki was hit by a pitch and scored on Brett Gardner's RBI triple, and Gardner came home on Derek Jeter's RBI groundout.

The scoring would halt for both teams over the next four innings, but each team had a few close calls.

Adam Warren had come on in relief of Phelps with two outs in the sixth and recorded three straight outs, but a base hit and two walks with two outs loaded the bases for the Rays (36-49) in the seventh. Warren wiggled out of trouble, inducing a groundout to second from Joyce to keep the game tied.

In the bottom half of the seventh, Roberts led off with a single and advanced to second on Suzuki's sacrifice bunt. With one out, Gardner hit a hard liner down the first-base line, but James Loney snagged it and doubled off Roberts to end the inning.

That would be the final inning of work for Rays starter Chris Archer, who allowed five hits and two runs while striking out four.

The Yanks would threaten again in the eighth when Brian McCann hit a ball into left field that Guyer couldn't handle to put runners on the corners with two outs, but Carlos Beltran popped out to strand both runners.

Quick hits: While general manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees are taking it "one step at a time" with CC Sabathia (right knee), he did throw another bullpen session Monday and "looked healthy." His pitch count has reached just 37 so far during his rehab, so it's a matter of building it back up before he becomes an option for the Yankees. … The earliest that Michael Pineda, who recently resumed throwing, could return from his back injury is mid-August. "Baby steps," Cashman said.